Are freshwaters ever specifically farmed to mimic white south seas?

[starfish]

I have spent the last couple years trying to educate myself about pearls. This forum has been invaluable, I'm amazed at the knowledge here.

I have bought pearls from Pearl Paradise, as well from several dealers at the AGTA, GJX and other Tucson shows. Many of my purchases are freshwater pearls, including AAA, freshadama, and white metallic.

I understand the freshwaters have greatly improved in recent years, and I feel I have acquired some very beautiful pearls.

However, I recently realized that everything I read about freshwater pearl quality, they are always compared to akoyas, both in written word and pictoral comparisons. Everything I come across relates to high quality freshwaters "rivaling" akoyas.

So my question is, are there freshwaters that "rival" white south sea pearls? Not in size specifically, but luster? Perhaps in the future if not now?

Thank you all for sharing your knowledge.

Starfish

 

[Marianne]

It might be difficult to find white south sea pearls to "rival" the luster in your freshwater white metallics as they tend to have a "softer" luster.

 

[jshepherd]

I agree with Marianne in terms of luster. Edisons are intended to rival South Sea, but I've not see white Edison strands that rival a fine South Sea strand, in my opinion. Typically the ones that could be confused by some are in the lower quality range and could pass a low-grade South Sea.

That's not to say we won't eventually see freshwater that really do look like fine white South Sea.

Freshwater are compared to akoya because of their common, average size. Japan is now the top producer of akoya and most production is in the 8 mm range. This campares well with freshwater production. In the past, when round, super-lustrous freshwater weren't possible, you couldn't really compare a freshwater strand against an akoya. Today you can.

 

[pearlescence]

I've had some big white ripple bead nucleated pearls which certainly looked very like average white south seas sown to the softer, satiny lustre. The surface flaws are characteristic of freshwater/SS though. I'm sure that some of the SS on ebay will be ripples. You'd need to know the difference and get up close with some, they are that close.

 

[Amrita]

White Edisons strands that I have seen recently may not exactly rival a top quality white SSP strand but they are getting closer and closer with each new lot. The surface is quite smooth, the luster is amazing, and the white has a silvery sheen..Here's a pic

 

[GemGeek]

Very interesting, Amrita. Thanks for sharing.

 

[pearlescence]

I'd have to look twice or three times with those Amrita. Are those proper Edisons or Mings or just generic bead nucleated? (thinking price as genuine Edison brand have a price premium) I reckon Mings etc are about 18 months behind Edison in developmental terms and well behind in price.

 

[Amrita]

These are Edison pearls, Wendy or at least that is the name that they are sold with ("Ai Di San" in Chinese or close). They are available in multicoloured strands, and purple ones too. Tell me more about the Mings, Wendy..

 

[jshepherd]

They are all the same thing. Edison is the name Grace gave them. Ming is the name Ruan (I believe was Ruan) gave them. For the most part, sellers call them Edisons regardless of who processed them since very few people actually buy them from Grace. Grace's inventory is part collateral on more than $70 million in debt (as has been explained to me), which is why their prices are many times more expensive than other processors - any strand I would consider "nice" for an Edison starts at several thousand dollars with Grace.

 

[Amrita]

Thanks Jeremy! That's interesting to know - so basically anybody buying from Grace is helping to service their debt too when paying their astronomical prices!

 

[JerseyPearl]

Sorry to hijack the thread for a question...are the white Edisons bleached? Or are they naturally that white?